Rose's Story
by mugglelovrspew
Summary: The life of Rose Weasley once she starts Hogwarts. Starts from when she first gets her letter.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: All original characters belong to me. Otherwise, things, places, spells, charms, people, etc. all belong to J.K. Rowling** Thanks to Alyssa for being my beta!

"Rosie! Oh, Rosie, come down here!" Hermione was screaming at the top of her lungs, bursting with excitement. Ron was playing chess against his son, Hugo, and they both jumped at the sound of Hermione's voice. They both rushed into the kitchen, and Ron gleamed when he saw the gray-white owl with a letter attached to its foot with a gold Hogwarts emblem seal. Rose came leaping down the stairs.

"What, Mum?" She landed in the kitchen with a big PLOMP, her flaming red curls trailing behind her. Rose Weasley had hair like her father, and she had the dark brown eyes of her mother. She was a very short girl for her age, just beating her 9-year-old brother, Hugo, by an inch. Hermione held up the over-filled envelope and handed it to Rose.

"Oh," she started in a sing-song voice, "our daughter is going into Hogwarts." She grabbed Rose and pressed Rose's face in her stomach during an overwhelming hug.  
"Mum, let go!" Rose squealed as she pushed her mother away. She took the envelope and stared down at it.

She was actually a witch, and now she was going to Hogwarts! She couldn't believe it; Rose opened the envelope and saw a letter addressed to her inside. She opened it and glanced at the letter from Professor Volans. Rose read intently, while Hermione felt an impulse to embrace her daughter once more.

Oh my little Rosie is growing up, Hermione thought. Next Hugo will be going, and then we will be all alone... At that moment, Ron interrupted Hermione's trance; he could see the terrified look on her face.  
"Erm, come on Hugo. Let's see just how well you've been paying attention." Ron's deep blue eyes glanced up at Hermione's strained face. "Dear?" he asked caringly. Hermione suddenly looked at him, and then sighed.  
"Coming," she stated softly.

They left Rose in her peace, but she wanted to be somewhere else, somewhere private. She carefully dashed once again up the steps, two at a time, and closed the door shut. The door had thankfully been sealed using the Imperturbable Charm by her Uncle George when her parents weren't looking. Rose sighed and leaned back against the cherry-wood paneled door. Sliding down the only egress, she looked around her room at the coral walls covered with posters of the Holyhead Harpies Qudditch team with her Aunt Ginny winking back at her. Even though it didn't move, her picture of muggle heart-throb Erec Barre was her favorite.

She traced the lines with the tip of her finger that contoured around each individual ab muscle, the way his violet-colored eyes shined against his golden tan made him the exact object of perfection in her mind. Having one dance with Erec would complete this dream. He would twirl her, and Rose's long, charcoal ballgown would make her look as if she were perfect for him. It wasn't until she tripped over the foot of the chair and onto her stomach in the middle of the bed that she finally snapped back to reality.

To be dreaming of such this was childish, especially at a time like this. She should be preparing for Hogwarts; she only had a month. Why had she put it off? It was almost inconceivable for her not to be a witch. Now she had to read as much as she could. It was time to take charge.


	2. Chapter 2

That Saturday morning, Ron was badgered by Hermione, who was telling him to wake the kids up extra early. Hugo wasn't too pleased.

"I'm not the one who's going to Hogwarts anyway. Why should I have to go?" He yawned.

"Tell you what," whispered Ron, "when we get back, I'll give you a Galleon if you've been good." At that point, Hugo leaped out of the bed and went diving into his wardrobe to look for some robes. Ginny didn't even have to be awakened; she was already dressed in her favorite royal purple robes with her hair in two lengthy braids. She had found her mother's old copy of_ Hogwarts, A History_, and had started to read it, once she had finished her chores and morning pumpkin juice.

Rose loathed chores; her parents thought it was sufficient for them to learn how to do things without magic. Just wait until she got her wand. All she'd ever have to do was flick her wrist and things would do what she wanted at her command. That would, of course, take a couple more years before she could learn to perform that level of magic.

Ron decided they would go by Side-Along Apparition. Rose was on Ron's left, and Hugo was on his right. Hermione had gone earlier to meet with Ginny at the Leaky Cauldron.

"Ready kids?" Ron asked them.

"Yes," they both replied with unease. Apparating was definitely not their favorite way of transportation. Ron turned his hand and Rose experienced the terrible sucking sensation she hated. It felt like an eternity had passed until she finally landed on her feet, almost falling over in the Leaky Cauldron. She looked up, and right there looking back at her upside down was Lily.

"'Ello Rosie," welcomed Lily.

"Argh!" Rose screamed and jumped back into a chair.

"Rose, quiet down," scolded Hermione.

"Well," Harry started, "now that everyone's here, let's get a move on." It wasn't until Harry stood up that Rose noticed who all was there. There was not only hers and Harry and Ginny's family, but her Uncle Bill and Aunt Fleur were there with Victoire and Dominique. Teddy Lupin was also there holding Victoire's hand as she leaned on his shoulder. Luna Scamander was there, and so was Rose's soon-to-be Herbology professor, Neville Longbottom and his wife, Hannah.

"I've got to stay, darling," Hannah informed Neville, "so you have a good time."

"All right," Neville sighed and he gave her a kiss on the forehead.

Ugh, Rose thought. She hated when people showed affection in public. It was just plain weird.

When they all squeezed through the entrance into Diagon Alley, Hermione started to speak.  
"All right, so we'll all meet back from our groups at noon in The Three Broomsticks, okay?"

"Rose, darling, come with Albus and me," Ginny called to Rose. She had to sprint most of the time to keep up with Albus. He was way too eager to get his wand. They stopped in front of Ollivanders.

"Mum, can we go in here, please?" Albus asked excitedly.

"If it'll get you two to stop running, fine," she huffed as she caught up with them. They pushed the door open at the same time and looked inside. It was dark, and there were 5 chairs in the middle of the room. Rose looked toward the last two chairs and saw a small girl with black hair looking wildly around the room and her mother.

"My, has it changed since I first came. Well, go sit down and we'll wait," Ginny said as she ushered them toward the seats. Albus and Ginny sat down nearest to the door, leaving the middle seat for Rose, placing her next to the bizarre behaving girl. She walked hesitantly to the chair and sat down.

"I always knew magic existed," the girl started, "but my mom didn't believe my letter. Thought it was a prank. I am Anika Collins, by the way." The girl had an American accent, and was very forward about everything; Rose could tell. She was very skinny and tall, had purple tips on the end of her shoulder-length hair, and had bright green eyes. Anika held out her hand. Rose shook it hesitantly.

"Rose Weasley, and this is my cousin, Albus Potter."

"Ahh, is this your first year as well?" she asked as she shook Albus's hand eagerly.

"Yes, but both of our families have blood lines of wizards, so we knew about magic before our letter."

"Oh," Anika whispered and her eyes dropped, "well this isn't my first time here in Diagon Alley."

"Do you have relatives who are wizards?" Rose asked.

"No. I live not too far from the Leaky Cauldron, and I wanted to find more information. So I showed the landlady my letter, and she led me in. It was confusing at first, but I finally landed at Obscurus Books and bought a copy of _Hogwarts, a History_, _All You Need to Know About Magic_, and _History of our World_." Rose was so surprised that she wasn't the only student researching information about Hogwarts.

"Excuse me, Anika," Anika's mother, Marietta, cut in, "it's your turn." Rose and Anika had been conversing so long that Albus had already gotten his wand. Anika headed to the front as Rose admired Albus's wand.

"13 1/2 inches, Wormwood, Veela hair," he stated proudly, "He said it was excellent for Transfiguration spells." Rose sat and waited eagerly for her chance. When Anika finished ("See you on September 1st!"), Rose saw a thick hand motion her up to the counter. A plump, little bald man greeted her with a warm smile.

"So who do we have here today?" he asked her.

"Rose Weasley," she stated.

"A Weasley, eh? I should've known." He eyed he read brains. "Well, let's see. Here's a good one to try. 10 1/2", yew, dragon heartstring." He placed the wand in her hand. Rose waved the wand around, but nothing happened; she felt foolish.

"No, huh?" He searched upon the long wall of boxes, and pulled a bigger one out. "How about this? 11", cherry, phoenix feather. Amazing wand, would do well in defensive spells and charms." Rose had barely gripped her fingers around the wand when the end started to glow, and a heavy gust of wind blew over her. She looked up at the man, and he grinned.

"That's one of the quickest wands I've ever sold in my 15 years. Well, Miss Rose, you are now the new owner of this wand." She paid for the wand, and Ginny, Albus, and Rose headed to pick up the rest of her stuff.

As a gift, Ginny bought Albus and Rose an owl each at Magical Menagerie. They headed to The Three Broomsticks for some lunch. While the adults caught up, all the kids headed over to Weasleys' Wizarding Wheezes to gather some treats. James gave Lily a Fainting Fancy without her knowing and caused her to faint right on the spot, which made everyone burst out in giggles. George gave Lily the antidote, and suggested they left before Hermione and Ginny found out what they did.

Hermione caught up with her kids, and stated they needed to head back to their home. Rose said bye to everyone, and gave Luna a big hug, as she wasn't likely to see her for a while. As they walked back to the Leaky Cauldron, Rose analyzed her day. She already knew another girl who would be at Hogwarts with her. She had enough studying to keep her busy until she left for Hogwarts. She was all set. Rose just hoped she was truly ready for what lay ahead; as for what did, that was still the mystery.


	3. Chapter 3 Welcome to Hogwarts

"_Lumos!_" Rose opened her eyes and stared at the tip of her wand with utmost delight. She squealed when she saw a light at the end of it. "First Year Magical Spells and Charms" was proving more helpful than she thought.

"Rose!" her father yelled for the third time, "We are going to be late. Are you going or not?" Her father was actually letting her decide if she wanted to go. Now that was odd. She could just stay then. No, she thought, not with what Mum would say.

"Coming," she said. Rose looked at the clock: 10:00. She grabbed her bag and stuffed her book and wand in it. They were driving to King's Cross, which would take at least 20 minutes.

Rose sat anxiously in the back seat, staring out the window; she wouldn't see the outside world for months, only the grim walls of Hogwarts. She was vaguely aware of her surrounding as her family took one of the last carts, loaded her things, and crossed the barrier. She was only shaken by the hum of noise coming from around her. She looked up, and saw Albus faintly smiling at her. Rose could tell his hair had had an attempted hair cut. He was wearing jeans and a striped, button down t-shirt.

"Hi," he said. She beamed at him. Why not put on my best show? she thought. Rose heard her father talking.

"...didn't believe I could pass a Muggle driving test, did you? She thought I'd have to Confund the examiner." Rose had completely forgotten that her father had just barely passed his driving test. The ride was seemed really smooth on the way here, or maybe it was just because she was so out of it much. They walked to the platform to find Lily and Hugo, talking loudly.

"I will be in the best house because I'm the coolest," Lily told Hugo sweetly.

"You'll be in Ravenclaw, because you're just as loony as Auntie Luna," Hugo retorted back.

"Hugo! How dare you say that," Ginny scolded to her son.

"I was only joking Mum. Auntie Luna is awesome." They had called Luna, Auntie Luna, ever since Rose could remember, which was odd, because they weren't related at all.

"If you're not in Gryffindor, we'll disinherit you," joked Ron, "but no pressure or anything."

"Ron!" Rose and Albus looked at each other worriedly.

"He didn't mean it dear," Hermione told Rose, "Now have you got everything?"

"Yes, Mum," Rose said. She and Hermione looked at each other for a long time, until they were interrupted.

"Look who it is," said Harry. Rose looked over and saw a boy with sleek, blond hair that looked almost exactly like his father.

"Who's that?" Albus asked Ginny.

"It's Draco Malfroy, a boy we went to school with, and his son. Scorpious, I think his name is."

"Yup," said Ron, "Make sure you beat him at every test Rosie. Thank God you inherited your mother's brains."

"Ron, for heaven's sake," said Hermione, "Don't try to turn them against each other before they've even started school!"

"You're right, sorry," said Ron, but unable to help himself up, he added, "Don't get too friendly with him, though, Rosie. Granddad Weasley would never forgive you if you married a pureblood." He looked up at Hermione, and saw a tear trickle down her face.

"That's my boy," she said. Ron then gave Hermione and tender kiss.

"Grown-ups," Rose muttered under her breath.

They started to walk along the train, looking for a door that wasn't crammed with students. They walked all the way down to the end, until they found a door, and right before she could get inside, Hermione stopped her.

"I want you to write us at least once a week, okay?" Hermione had her hands on Rose's shoulders and was now down to eye level withe her. "Promise?"

"I promise, Mum," and Rose embraced herself in her mother's hug until Ron nugged Hermone and threw her a worried glance. She then gave Rose a little push onto the train. Rose stepped inside the train and threw her head out the window.

"Where's Albus?" she asked.

"Coming," he shouted across the way. He rushed into the train. "I'm going to go sit with James," he told her. "Want to come?"

"No, I'm going to go find Anika."

"Okay, well I'll find you later."

"Bye." Rose walked along the aisles. All the kids were in what looked to be like their attempt at muggle clothing. She didn't know how, but she finally happened upon the compartment that consisted of Anika and many other kids she had never seen before. She opened the door warily; Anika looked up from her copy of Witch Times and waved. She had changed her hair ends to red had it sleeked back into a high, stylish ponytail.

"Rose! Oh, it's so good to see you. I didn't know where you would be, so I took a seat here."

"Aren't you going to introduce us, Ani?" asked a bulky boy about twice as tall as Rose.

"I was getting there Lee. Don't get your wand in a knot." Rose noted that everyone was already in their robes. Rose thought they all were very beautiful she stuck out like a sore thumb.

"Rose," Anika started, "this is Lee Jordan, Luke, Kim, Jasmine Witzer, and Martin Quil. Everyone this is Rose Weasley." Everyone had dark hair and green eyes. They were all tall, and most of them were lean except for Lee.

"Hey Rose, I'm Lee. You should totally be a Hufflepuff because we're awesome. You'd be with me and Jaz over there." Luke stood and pushed Lee back into his seat.

"Shut it, you git," Luke said as he lead Rose over to the seat next to him. "You'll be in whatever house is right for you. I'm in Gryffindor, along with Kim and Martin, and we are all 2nd years." Rose saw a sparkle come from his violet-colored eyes, and then it hit her: He was the exact replica of Erec Barre. "You don't talk much," he said and looked at Anika. "Is that normal?"

"My dad wanted me to be a Gryffindor," Rose finally managed to get out.

"Excellent! And might you dad be Ron Weasley?" Lee noted.

"Erm, yeah." She was starting to feel a little awkward.

"Bloody hell! Your uncle is Harry Potter! He defeated the Dark Lord, and..." Everyone was ignoring Lee's rant; he seemed to be over-obsessed with great historical wizards. Luke turned to wink at Rose, and pointed his wand toward Lee.

"Silencio," he whispered. Everyone started laughing at the sight of Lee pretending to gag himself.

"So, Luke, do you think we'll like Hogwarts?" Rose asked pointing to herself and Anika.

"Oh yeah, you'll love it."

"What's your favorite class?" asked Anika cooly.

"Well," Luke started as he took a quick glance at Kim, who gave him a wary look, "I would  
have to say DADA. It's great fun."

"I personally think Potions is a good class. Professor Volans is amazing." Kim got a dreamy look in her eyes. "He's an Auror during the summer. Did you know that Luke?" Luke didn't seem to have been paying attention. He was looking out the window.

"I think we're almost there," Martin started. Rose already had her robes on, so she sat down and braided her longest curl until the train came to an abrupt stop.

"Grab your stuff Rose," Anika rushed. As soon as Rose stepped off the train, she got dragged into the crowd of swarming students trying to get out of the pouring rain. She slid her bag up over her head, and looked around in every direction trying to find Anika. Rose turned once more and found herself staring into a pair of bright, green eyes.

"Albus!" Rose cried as she threw her arms around him in relief. She had finally bumped into someone she knew.

"Come on!" he shouted at her. "We have to get to the boats."

Albus led Rose into a boat and where she found herself sitting next to a baby-faced boy about half a foot shorter than she was. She tried to keep looking straight ahead and keep the rain out of her eyes, which she wasn't very successful at. When they reached the grounds of Hogwarts, she heard a loud voice coming from nearby. Someone that big could of only been one person: Hagrid. The Potter and Weasley families were great friends with him ever since he had them over for dinner every Thanksgiving.

"Firs' years, tis way," said Hagrid.

"Hello Hagrid. How are you?" Albus asked.

"'Ello there, Albus. Mighty fine. Jus' tryin' to get you lot outta the rain. Come along!" Hagrid lifted his lantern and knocked on the enormous door, which opened instantly. He led the first years up a flight of stairs where a tall, skinny man with brown hair that was pulled into a ponytail stood. He had on black robes with green stripes down the side.

"Thank you, Hagrid," his cool voice said. "And welcome to Hogwarts. Before I take you into the Great Hall, I must explain the sorting procedure. I am Professor Volans. There are four houses: Slytherin, my house, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Gryffindor. You will come and sit upon the stool when your name is called. A hat will be placed on your head and will determine which of the four houses you will placed into. Please follow me, now." He swished his cape and led them into a gigantic hall with a ceiling that looked like the now clear, starry sky. He grabbed a scroll that was on the stool and called the first name.

"Ambers, Gregory." Rose saw the baby-faced boy go up, standing proudly, to the stool, sit on it, and have a dingy hat placed upon his head.

"Hmm," the old, torn hat started to say, "Hufflepuff!" A great outburst came from the far left table. The boy walked and sat down as the next name was called.

"Clemins, Lola!" A girl with platinum blond hair down to her ankles sat upon the stool and smiled.

"Ravenclaw!" the Sorting Hat cried.

"Collins, Anika," Professor Volans said. Anika walked nervously and tripped over the stool. Snickers came from around the Great Hall, but she just got up, brushed herself off, smiled, and sat upon the stool. It took a minute, but the hat finally decided.

"Gryffindor," it said as thunderous rounds of applause came form one of the middle tables. Rose watched anxiously as each student had their turn being sorted. So far, she had counted 14 Ravenclaws, 16 Hufflepuffs, 19 Slytherins, and 15 Gryffindors.

"Malfoy, Scorpious," called Professor Volans. The small blond boy Rose had seen at the train station sat upon the stool. Rose could see him shaking.

"A Malfoy is it?" the Sorting Hat started. "I haven't seen one of you in a while...That's quite interesting. You should be in... Are you sure? Alright, Slytherin!" The table was still just as cheerful as it had been with the first newly established Slytherin. Rose was trying to figure out what the Sorting Hat had said to Scorpious when she heard Albus's name called. There were a few gasps around the room, but other than that, total silence.

"Are you Harry Potter's son? Well then, you must be a Gryffindor!" Rose saw the look of relief upon Albus's face as James gave him a pat on the back. Now all she had to do was wait her turn. She listened intently as each name was called. Sasha Vanderson became a Ravenclaw. There was a slight pause, and then something she hadn't heard before.

"Rose Weasley?" Rose looked up just as confused a Professor Volans was, but she was directed toward the stool. The hat fell down past her nose, and everything was dark.

"A Weasley?" the Sorting Hat chuckled, "Many surprises today indeed. I would say...Gryffindor!" A unified cheer came from the Gryffindor table. Rose ran over and sat down by Albus. She would talk with Anika later. Right now, Rose wanted to just be with her family, people she knew.

"Congrats Rose," said James over the jumble of noise.

"Just wait 'til Uncle Ron hears this," Albus laughed as he high-fived Rose. Everyone started to quiet down when a tiny man with a gray bushy beard and no hair stood before them.

"Welcome to Hogwarts once again. My name is Professor Aron McGarthy," he said in a squeaky voice with a hint of an Irish accent, "and I am your new Headmaster. This year will be a new one for all of us, so let's work together. Previous rules still apply, so no trying my patience." He looked upon the anxious, curious young faces in his audience. "Well, let me not keep you waiting any longer!" and with a snap of his fingers, all the tables became full of more food than Rose had seen in her whole life. All of her favorite things were on the considerably sized table, even her Granny Granger's Sweet Potato Casserole. Rose grabbed as much food as she could and put it on her plate. Chicken, beans, custards, soups, there were too many things to try in one evening. Was it like this every evening? She wouldn't be surprised if it was.

Rose ate as much as she could until she felt as if her stomach would explode. Albus looked the same.

"That was some supper," said Rose.

"Your telling me," replied Albus.

"What are we supposed to do now?" They both looked at James.

"I guess I can take you up to the common room," he said whiningly. "Hey Ed, what's the password?"

"Bumble beans," Ed said, and Rose assumed he was a Prefect. James led them up numerous staircases, and Rose was sure she would never be able to find her way around if left alone. They finally came upon a portrait of the Fat Lady.

"Bumble beans," James said.

"Oh, I've always hated those," the Fat Lady said as her portrait swung open. Rose looked at empty chairs in the open space. It was warm and cozy in the common room. James threw himself into a chair by the fireplace.

"Nice, isn't it?" he asked.

"I love it!" Albus exclaimed.

"Yeah, so Rosie, your dormitories are up those stairs," James said as he pointed, "and ours are up those."

"Okay, thanks. I think I'll head up and unpack. Wait, where's my stuff?" Rose asked as she looked around.

"Oh, it's already up in your room."

"Okay, good night." She headed up the stairs and entered the door that said "First Years". There were 5 4-poster beds in the room, and she saw her trunk. Rose jumped onto the bed and lay down. This was going to be an interesting year.


	4. Chapter 4

"Wake up," Anika said dreamily. Rose stretched her limbs and opened her eyes. She was still in her robes from last night.

"What timesit?" asked Rose sleepily.

"7:30. Our first class is in a hour. Come on, get up!" Rose rolled out of bed and onto the floor. She always hated getting up early. Why couldn't education wait until later? Rose decided to just brush her hair and teeth and then headed down toward the Great Hall with Anika. There were only first and second years left at the tables, as everyone else was already headed off toward class. Rose saw Professor Longbottom headed toward them.

"Good morning, Rose. Here's your schedule. I'm glad you're in my house. There was not a doubt that you wouldn't be, but congratulations anyway. I've got to run. See you in Herbology," he called as he walked to the Greenhouses.

"That was weird," Anika said incoherently. "What's your schedule?"

"I think our schedules are the same until our third year," Rose stated as she sat down. "So we have Potions, Double Herbology with Ravenclaws, Defense Against the Dark Arts, then Lunch. Flying, Transfiguration, and then Double Charms with Slytherins. We have Astronomy at midnights on Wednesdays," she recited with boredom. Rose then grabbed some toast and pumpkin juice and scarffed it down in a hurry.

"You now we've still got a half hour, right," Anika laughed at the sight of pumpkin juice rolling down Rose's chin.

"I know, but do we know where it is?" Rose asked smartly. Anika shrugged, admitting defeat. Rose frowned and then looked up and down the table.

"Who yah looking for?"

"Him," Rose said as she pointed and eyed all five kids she had met yesterday studying. _What could they possibly be studying_, she thought. She winked at Anika and skipped down toward Luke. "H-hi Luke," she stuttered suddenly nervous. Luke looked up angrily, but then he saw Rose and smiled.

"Hey Rose! How's that uncle of yours?" asked Lee.

"We need to know the way to Potions. Would someone," she said flirtily as she caught a quick glance at Luke, "like to show us to the dungeons?"

"I will!" Lee shot up automatically.

"Sit down," Luke said as he gave Lee a hard push down on his shoulders. "I'll do it."

"Great," Anika said quickly, "We just have to grab our stuff. Come on," she said as she tugged on Rose's hand.

"What are you so peppy about," Rose asked curiously.

"Oh, nothing," she said half-singingly.

"Tell me, please," Rose begged.

"You like him and you know it," Anika whispered. "I'm doing you a favor."

"I don't like him like that," Rose replied sternly.

"Stop lying to me. Your face is too easy to read."

"I am not lying, so knock it off! And my face is not easy to read," she stated defiantly.

"Okay fine." Still not admitting defeat, Anika danced toward the group of second years. Not noticing the small Hufflepuff coming toward her, Anika leaped in the air and kneed the poor boy in the gut. She spun around and gasped. Martin jumped up from his seat to help the boy up onto his feet. He glared at Anika.

"Come one, boy. Let's get you up to the Infirmary. Madam Pomfrey wouldn't be pleased." Martin walked away, holding the boy, cursing and murmuring something along the lines of "Already on the first day...dumb dancers."

"What's gotten into him?" Anika scoffed.

"He's just a very…protective person," Jasmine said.

"Marty's really a great guy once you get to know him," agreed Kim.

"I hope so," huffed Anika. Rose gave a quiet snort at the thought of calling Martin, Marty.

"Come one," said Kim, "Luke, Lee, and I are headed toward Charms, which is just along the way. See you at lunch, Jazzy."

"Bye, loves," Jasmine called. As they walked down the hall, Kim laid her head on Lee's shoulder.

"I'm going to get so lost in here," Anika murmured to herself.

"It's actually not that bad," said Luke.

"It is if you hate school."

"What is it with you Americans and not liking or caring about your education?"

"Can you two nod off the arguing?" Rose butt in.

"He started it," Anika muttered.

"I don't care who started it. It's only our first day, Ani. Let's make and keep friends, not lose them, okay," Rose said pleadingly. Anika placed her hand on her friend's shoulder.

"Of course, dear," she said smiling. They had reached the dungeon door by this point.

"Where's Kim and Lee?" asked Anika and Rose.

"Probably off someplace in a corner talking. Lee's dad is missing," said Luke, "He just got the letter this morning."

"Is that what you were 'studying' this morning," Rose asked curiously.

"Yes," and he sighed, "Well, I better get to class before Professor Flitwick has a fit."

"Okay, bye," Anika sang.

"Bye," Rose said and she smiled at Luke. She walked in with Anika and they quickly took their seats in the back. An old, frail woman in bright red robes sat in front of the class, with glaring dark, brown eyes. She got off her seat and grabbed her cane quickly. The cane interested Rose immensely; it was a dark cherry wood with a gold phoenix inside a clear glass ball on top. At the feet of the phoenix lay a basilisk: dead, defeated, and a stone gray color. The woman walked between the tables to the back of the classroom and shut the door. No one dared to look back at her. She turned swiftly on the spot and hit her cane on the floor at once. At that moment, the torches on the walls of the dungeon lit and flamed wildly. The elderly professor whistled a familiar tune as she limped toward the front of the room.

"Welcome to Potions, my dears," she said sweetly. Now that she was standing still, Rose noticed how tall the woman was, but how elegant she looked and how precise and quick she made every motion; it was as if she had choreographed it. Her glasses were a thickly rimmed and silver, and her hair was put back into a short silver-haired braid with a red ribbon keeping it in place.

"My name is Ingrid Wadilia Lynx, and I am your Potions professor for the next five years, at the least. I am hoping that at least half of each year makes it into my NEWT potions class. So, which of you will it be?" She walked along the front of the tables eyeing everyone suspiciously; Professor Lynx then stopped in front of a girl with poofy, curly red pigtails. "You, my dearest, what is your name?" The plump, short girl gulped.

"Emily Hatcher, ma'am," she whimpered.

"Can you tell me what goes into Polyjuice Potion?"

"No ma'am, " Emily said as looked at her feet solemnly, "I've seen it before though."

"Doesn't matter," Professor Lynx said non-caringly, and she quickly said, "Sit!" as she banged the bottom of her cane on the table. "Anyone else have an answer?"

"Excuse me, _ma'am_, but how could you expect any of us to know this stuff? You are the teacher, are you not?" Everyone was, by this time, staring at a standing and confident Anika. Her hair was down today, and she was twisting the ends with one hand and had her other on her hip.

"Yes, I am," Professor Lynx said, and by this time she had a sly smile on her face. "You are the student, and a very independent one at that. You should all take a lesson from her and be as independent. You may sit, Ms. Collins.

"I always look for the one 'fearless' student, and there's always one in each batch of new ones. This is the first year in a long time there's been one in Gryffindor, sadly."

"Where would they be usually, then?" asked Emily.

"Slytherin," she hissed shrilly, "I don't have anything against them, but I am a true fan of Gryffindor. All right, enough chat." Professor Lynx then tapped her cane two times on the ground, and the pupils' cauldrons, books, and ingredients appeared on their tables.

"Look on page 23 of your books. I want to see your first attempt at a potion; If made correctly, you should produce a Deflating Draught. Make sure to do a research and outline on one foot of parchment. Due tomorrow." Professor Lynx slumped back in her chair and gazed at her students with watchful eyes. Rose worked diligently, and she noticed Anika copying her movements.

"What are you doing?" Rose whispered through her teeth.

"Making my potion," Anika answered questionably.

"Ani, you're copying my work!"

"As long as it gets done, does it really matter?" Rose opened her mouth to make a rebuttal, but shut it after a thought. She didn't have many friends, and she didn't want to lose the few she did. "Thanks," Anika whispered, and they both went back to their work. Not long after, they were dismissed from class. The young Gryffindors headed toward their Herbology class. No one found it very interesting. All Professor Longbottom did was discuss how important safety with plants was. Anika could have cared less. She was painting her and Rose's (against her will) nails a mood-changing polish. They all got out of the Greenhouses in a hurry. It had started raining, so they hurried into the castle. Anika looked at Rose's wavy, but stringy wet hair and started laughing.

"Having fun, are we?" Luke had appeared from his last class and was already carrying a huge pile of books and papers.

"Yeah," sighed Anika, "Herbology is the most boring class ever."

"Don't worry," Luke assured her as they started off toward their next class, "You'll have more fun soon."

"Do we have time before DADA? I need to change," Rose giggled, completely oblivious to the current conversation.

"No, and you look fine. I especially love you hair," Luke laughed pointing to her head. Rose picked up some of her long, dripping locks and sighed.

"Hold on," Anika squeaked quickly. She grabbed a hair clip from her bag, brought Rose's hair out of her face, leaving some down, and clipped it behind her head. "There, all better." Luke's eyes widened as he started to smile.

"You look…beautiful," he quickly said and moved his stare toward the ground.

"Boys," Anika sighed, "Come on Rose. We're gonna be late." She grabbed her confused friend's hand and headed up the staircase. They finally ended up in a dark classroom with nothing crowding the floor. They looked forward and saw a group of students crowded around something glowing. Professor Volans looked up from the group of ooo-ing and awe-ing students.

"Ahh, come along girls," he said as he motioned. Rose and Anika stepped forward and saw a small fairy trapped underneath a glass. "Very rare around these parts fairies are. Does anyone know why?" Rose's hand shot up.

"They're very fond of the dark. Light weakens their glow," she said proudly.

"Very good Ms…Weasley," he said worriedly and gulped as he looked up. "Sit down! All of you," he barked instantly. "Take out your books and read from the beginning." Through the whole class, everyone sat with fear. Professor Volans would take off points at the slightest squeak of a chair. By the end of class, the innocent first years had lost 50 points in total for Gryffindor.

"What do you think was his problem?" asked Anika angrily.

"I don't know," pouted Emily, "what could we have done wrong already?" All the Gryffindors discussed on their way to the Great Hall for lunch. Rose grabbed herself some Clam Chowder and ate it quickly. She then attempted to relieve herself of home work before class started.

Since it was raining, the Flying class was canceled to much disappointment. Most first years spent this free period finishing their Potions assignment. The rest of the day was much better. Professor Dener was the new Transfiguration professor. He simply discussed the process of transfiguring objects with them; nothing too difficult. Rose felt she was especially going to like this class.

During Charms, Professor Flitwick noticed the stress laid upon the class. So he decided to teach them Cheering Charms. Rose had been placed next to Scorpious Malfoy. She didn't know if she should be fond of him, but he seemed like a nice enough boy. They both were giggling so hard that they're stomachs hurt by the time class was over. Professor Flitwick dismissed the class with their only homework being to practice Cheering Charms upon themselves when they were sad or stressed. Scorpious stopped Rose before she could leave.

"Thanks for being so good at Charms," he said in a mid-deep voice. Rose noticed grey his eyes were, and she bit her lip in a nervous smile.

"No problem. Thanks to you too. I know, personally, I really needed it," she said. They both started to head toward the library together, getting odd quick glances from other students.

"Yeah, me too," Scorpious said solemnly.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, it's just…you know who my dad is right?"

"Well," Rose said thinking, "sort of; I know who he is. My dad's not too fond of him."

"Same with my family." He looked at Rose with worried-some eyes. "Can I trust you?"

"Of course," she said quickly.

"I wasn't meant to be in Slytherin," he whispered, "The Sorting Hat whispered to me last night that I should be in Gryffindor. But I knew my father would kill me once he found out."

"Scorpious, this isn't right," Rose shrieked at her loudest whisper. They were in the library now, and huddled in a corner behind books as to not disturb others. "If you were meant to be in Gryffindor, then you shouldn't have denied that."

"Rose, don't you see?" Scorpious has his hands tight around her arms. She was in so much discomfort, she had to grit her teeth to keep from tearing up. "I'd be an outcast and have no where to go! My father's family is a firm believer still today, even, in pureblood values. It just has to be this way." Scorpious saw the pain he was causing Rose and let her down instantly. "I'm sorry! Sorry, so sorry!" Rose rubbed her forearms.

"It's okay. Just promise me that you'll come to me…more calmly when you need someone to talk to, okay?" Rose could see Scorpious thinking deeply about this, and then he smiled.

"I promise, Rose," he sighed. The way he said her name just made her head go spinning in every direction; it made her melt inside. How could one boy, let alone one she had just met and barely knew, make her feel this way, a way Rose had never felt before? She wanted him to touch her again, just to feel his rare, gentle warmth. It was forbidden, she thought. She could never have this happen. She tried hard to push these thoughts out of her mind, but they stuck throughout the rest of the night.

"I think we'd better head up to our dorms. 'Nite Rose, Anika," Albus said as he waved to them. They had been working together for two hours after dinner on their homework. Rose was now replying to her mother's letter. Rose's owl, who she had now decided to name Margo, had arrived during dinner with her letter. Rose re-read it once more.

_Dear Rosie,_

Congratulations for making it into Gryffindor! Dad and I are very proud of you. The house sure is lonely without you. Hugo and your dad spend a lot of time down at your grandfather's, working on muggle inventions. We've taken off work until Hugo goes back to school.

I hope you're having fun and meeting bunches of new friends. I can't wait to see you over Christmas.

All my love,

Mum  
  
Rose sighed. Hermione was the person Rose inherited a lot of her personality from, including how high her stress levels can be. She loved her mother dearly, but sometimes Hermione made adult life seem too difficult to stand. Rose began to write:

_Dear Mum,_

How are you? I miss you. Thank you and I'm glad I'm in Gryffindor like the rest of the family. I've made several new friends, and they're all amazing. Don't tell Dad, but one of my friends is Scorpious Malfoy. He is nice, compared to how Dad described his father. Could you tell me what Dad against him? I'm glad you're taking time off to relax. I can't wait to see you at Christmas, too.

More Love Than Ever,

Rose

Rose read over her letter once more and decided that should do after one day. Her mother could be a little bit over protective and worrisome. It wasn't her fault; she had reasons to be. Rose's father had said she'd been this way ever since the war.

_"Trauma," he said, "She'd seen it before, but that was the turning point for it. Don't you mind, all right? She's fine, your mum."_

And Rose didn't worry. Her mum was brilliant, which was the way Rose thought and knew of her. She wanted to keep it that way. Rose stretched her arms and let out a big yawn.

"You want me to help you unpack, sleepy head?" Anika asked playfully.

"Wouldn't want to wake our roommates, would we?" sighed Rose.

"Oh, they can deal with it," Anika laughed as she grabbed her friend's hand to help her up. By now, mostly older students remained in the common room. "So, where did you disappear to after Charms today?"

"Oh," Rose breathed nervously, "library," she said quickly.

"Oh, well I would have come with you instead of having to go down there with that Slytherin," replied Anika curiously.

"We were just talking," defended Rose. "Is that a crime?"

"No, but you're not going to have a good rep with most Gryffindors if you're defending Slytherins."

"Look, he needed someone to talk to, okay. I was only being friendly."

"I believe you," agreed Anika. "I don't think some will feel the same, though."

"Keep it between us then, okay?" asked Rose.

"Okay. Come on," Anika laughed. They hurried up the staircase into their dorm. Their roommates, Emily, Karolinn, and Adelaide, were already asleep. Anika and Rose unpacked their belongings quietly. It didn't take long, but Rose felt exhausted when she was done.

"I'm going to get ready for bed," yawned Rose. She headed off toward the shower rooms with her nightgown and toiletries. She didn't feel like talking a shower, but did anyway. She slipped into her nightgown and brushed the knots our of her hair. Rose heard a quiet humming noise coming from her dorm.

"What are you doing?" she whispered to a humming Anika.

"My mom would always sing to me at night when I was younger. I do it when I'm homesick sometimes. It's called 'You are my Sunshine,'" Anika replied shyly.

"Cool," Rose sighed as she slumped on her bed and crawled under her covers.

"'Nite Rose," yawned Anika.

"Mmmhmm," was all she could hum. Anika's song had rested her brain and she was too tired to speak as she drifted off into her dreams. A dream that included a small blond-haired boy holding her close and whispering in her ear, "I'll never let you go..."


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

As the days became chillier, Quidditch was just around the corner. Professor Longbottom came around every morning during breakfast to remind the Houses to show their House spirit. Rose was sent a letter from home that included money, and with that she purchased a Gryffindor scarf. Along with the money, Rose was sent some of her favorite treats, a picture of Ron, Hugo, and her grandfather Weasley beside a Muggle car, and her long awaited letter from Hermione. Rose tore open the envelope and read the letter:

_Darling,_

I'm so glad you're making friends and having a good time. Hogwarts is the place where 7 very important years of my life took place that, sadly, I will never get back.

Scorpious seems to be a nice boy…All I'm going to warn you is to be careful. _Mr. Malfoy, Scorpious's father, betrayed a trust and bond that had been built between them after The Battle of Hogwarts. Your Uncle Harry, your father, and I helped saved Mr. Malfoy's life and after that, he felt he owed a great debt to us, especially your father. Ron and Mr. Malfoy developed a grand friendship, unbeknownst to the majority of the family. The time came when Scorpious father apparently thought his 'debt' was paid. This was about two years before you were born, but it shall never be forgotten._

Draco used the Imperius Curse on your father, and made him do some things that got him into quite some trouble with the Ministry. When put to the trial, Draco repented and the jury believed him. Also, he claimed that his father, Lucius Malfoy, who was a Death Eater, had put him up to cursing Ron and threatened him. The Ministry made a deal with Draco that is only known between them, to their knowledge… You mustn't mention this to anyone, as I don't know who is delicate about the situation.

Margo is a very good and strong owl; she should last you a long time. I won't mention anything to your father about Scorpious, as you shouldn't either. Be safe my sweet.

All my love,

Mum

Rose looked at Margo's begging eyes.

"Are you happy, now?" Rose smiled as she rubbed Margo's head. The dark black owl was eating some dry toast when Rose saw Scorpious walking toward her with his head and eyes diverted toward the floor. Rose jumped up excitedly to greet him when Luke appeared in front of her suddenly. He put his arm around Rose and gave her a tight squeeze and led her toward the other end of the table.

"Hey, Rose! How are you? You look exhausted," Luke said as he looked at Rose with concern in between quick glances at the blond little boy now walking back to his own house table.

"Wipe that smirk off your face," scowled Rose and she shook off his arm and crossed hers.

"What did I do?" he asked innocently.

"You saw Scorpious coming towards me, and you scared him away, you bully!" Rose got up from the bench and started to storm off to her dorms. Luke gave her her space, but then he dashed off after her. He entered the vacant common room as soon as Rose started up the steps. He reached around to grab her shoulders and spun Rose to face him.

"What's your problem?" Rose screeched as she struggled uselessly against his grip.

"You are," Luke sighed. It was no use for Rose to try; she had the strength of a muggle two-year-old compared to Luke's muscular stature. She let her shoulders fall, and she dropped flat on the floor and sat cross-legged.

"Why do you try and protect me so much? You're not my brother," she whispered curiously.

"It's my nature," he said. Rose looked up at him with a confused face, and Luke understood. "Rose, I'm not only a wizard, but I'm a Feorer. Have you ever heard of them?"

"Yes, but I know very little about them. They're extremely rare," Rose stated.

"Yes, we are. Feorers were originally a group of creatures that were assigned to protect people in grave danger. There was a great number to begin with, about 20,000. That was a 7:1 ratio with wizards."

"It seems like your numbers were scarce," Rose said. Luke took a seat on the floor next to her and took her hand in his. Rose looked at the ground.

"Not really," he smiled, "Originally Feorers had supreme strength, abilities, and senses. They were able to overpower any civilization, if they had wanted to. Feorers despised violence unless it was used to protect their Chosen."

"So, how is it that you have a Chosen?" she whispered.

"I'm getting there, but please be patient. Feorers were born into a clan and were trained from a young age. They were nearly invincible. After their 7th birthday, they would qualify to be assigned to their new Chosen. Chosens were wizards or muggles that were in a great danger for themselves and couldn't stop it; not even the most powerful wizards could. Their feorer's sole purpose was to protect them their whole life.

"Wizards who were given a Feorer were very grateful, and felt their life was owed. Muggles, on the otherhand, would a kill a magical being if found. They weren't very happy if a feorer happened upon them, so they would tell them to leave them alone.

"But the feorer couldn't leave; it was in their nature and one of their loyalties to stay with their Chosen. So, if found, the kings and queens of the time ordered that the Feorers would be slaughtered. This was called the Fees War because the Feorers fought back but were weakened if a member of their own clan was killed. It lasted two years. This happened rapidly, though, and was attempted to keep quiet from most people. Only two clans ended up not ceasing to exist: the Blancha clan and the Andes clan. They crossed paths long after this war, about 100 years later, with very little members left. They decided that the only way to keep the species alive would be to combine their clans.

"It was something that had never been attempted before, but it worked. They combined into one clan, not long after, but then separated in fear of poisoning the blood line too much. This separation caused each clan to have to start being with humans, wizard or muggle, and bearing children. The pure-blood Feorer line eventually faded, and now there are very few left.

"My mother was a pure-blood feorer, and my father was a wizard. I am a mix of two kinds, but most importantly, I'm here to protect you." Rose sat facing away from Luke, confused. How could he have not told her about this? He tried to be closer to her, but how could Rose let him when things were like this?"

"And your siblings and friends?" Rose asked, barely a whisper.

"All feorers," he stated. Rose nodded, and then moved her eyes toward Luke's slowly.

"Why…am I your Chosen one?" Rose croaked. Luke's gaze moved toward the ceiling, and he squeezed Rose's hand and sighed.

"I can't tell you…yet. I'll train you to detect signs of danger with your senses, since I won't be with you all of the time. Once I feel you're ready to handle the truth, I will tell you," Luke finished. "Come on," he said looking at his watch. "You're going to be late for Potions." He helped Rose onto her feet and grabbed her things. "It'll be all right. I'm here," Luke said as he lifted her wet chin up to his face. He brought her lips to is and placed his hand softly on her cheek.

Rose had a feeling of trouble, but her feelings of pleasure and being defiant took over her common sense. She took her arms and slowly wrapped them around Luke's neck. Luke took his fingers through her smooth curls, with his other free arm now around her waist.

"Oh!" Anika breathed. Rose and Luke broke apart at the sudden noise within the vicinity. Rose glanced at a shocked and stuttering Anika. She then proceeded to go over and grab Anika's hand with her own and left the common room quickly. Anika's belongings followed Rose with a grimace on her face for the rest of the day and didn't speak a word; even her usual spunk and sass was gone from the classes, and everyone was taking notice. Rose knew that whatever the full reason was for Anika's mood, it had something to do with her and Luke's display earlier. She felt a great relief when Charms came. Scorpious glanced at the doorway as Rose took her seat.

"He's not here," she sighed.

"You can never be so sure," Scorpious spat.

"Look, I'm sorry! I didn't realize about wha- why he did things, until now. But he won't do it again. I promise." Rose bit her lip nervously. Scorpious was acting as if he hadn't heard a word, but was copying the research off the board. Rose sighed in defeat and took her seat. She tried to keep her mind on the Color-Changing Charm she was attempting, but became pre-occupied at the thought of losing her friends.

"Not your best work," Professor Flitwick tisked as he came around to assess. "Charms requires utmost concentration, as most magic does. And," he hesitated, "it's more of a stab with your wand than a flick." He smiled sweetly and moved onto Scorpious. Rose placed her head down on he table and closed her eyes. _Things can't get much worse, can they?_

As Halloween drew nearer, the professors packed on more and more work. Rose spent all of her free time in the library studying. The only thing that kept her from that was her training with Luke; it was going quite well. She had learned a colossal amount of information about feorers: history, signs to identify their powers, etc. She'd also learned techniques that were simpler versions of the ones taught to feorers to defend ones mind from any kind of evil. Due to the constant protection factor provided by Luke, Rose's bond to him had strengthened.

The kiss, for sure, had not been forgotten. Whenever Rose tried to talk about it with Luke to explain that it had not meant anything, he would simply state they didn't have time for small talk; she had mixed feelings about him and needed to talk to someone, which ended up being no one.

Anika still seemed to have harsh feelings about the subject; she and Rose were barely on speaking terms, and Rose didn't want to risk anything. Scorpious was finally welcoming her with open arms, secretly, of course. They met every Saturday in an abandoned classroom in the dungeons to sit in front of the fire to just talk and relax. They were nothing more than very good friends, although she hoped that might change.

The rest of the Feorers had welcomed Rose as if she were a long lost member of their family. Jasmine and Kim were especially happy for another girl to even things out. Rose was happy, but had an odd feeling being around such already powerful wizards. She decided to sit with Albus and James, whom she had barely talked to since the first week of classes.

"We must not reek anymore," said James.

"You've been ignoring us," explained Albus at the sight of Rose's confused look.

"I've been busy," corrected Rose hesitantly. She hadn't told anybody, not even Hermione or Albus, about Luke yet. She wanted the correct timing.

"Yeah, well, you've missed quite a lot," said Albus and he winked at James.

"Well, why?"

"You know your friend Anika?" asked James.

"Yes," Rose said flatly.

"She's my new girlfriend," replied James. Rose eyes looked like they had popped out of her head. _They're joking, right?!_ At that moment, Anika skipped into the Great Hall and squeezed herself onto James' lap. He gave her a kiss on the cheek. Rose's brain spun out of control and into oblivion.


	6. Chapter 6

"_It's all right, dearie. You'll be okay," the young girl whispered soothingly as she brushed back the tangled, short hair away from his eyes. She got up off her chair and tip-toed toward the window. "Oh no! I'm sorry my sweet. I'll be back soon." She kissed his lips and ran out of the room._

"Lindy," he croaked.

The memories of his savior were still vivid in his mind. Why and how she saved him, he will never know. Regulus sat up on his bed and threw the covers off. He looked at his clock: 4:00. Just enough time to mark papers, he thought sarcastically. He proceeded to put on his night cloak and opened his dormitory door to his classroom; it was still a mess from his final class, his Slytherin 6th years. Studying basilisk fangs was a very tedious job. They weren't very good at keeping things clean. He didn't really care; as long as they could fight a dangerous being or dark wizard, he felt fine. He took out his wand and pointed it at the mess.

"Acatalava," he murmured and the classroom became spotless. Suddenly, a noise came from outside his door. He prepared himself and his wand, and ran out the door.

"I'm telling you, Rose. It's easy if you concentrate," Regulus listened to the conversation coming from a nearby dungeon room.

"You've got to be kidding me. You're trained...and not just a wizard," Rose said in her quietest voice. Why are they out of bed so early?! He stormed to the locked room door.

"Alohamora!" He barged in to find Luke sitting on the floor of the room and Rose standing beside him facing a single chair. Rose spun around and her eyes widened at the sight of Professor Volans.

"Ms. Weasley, what are you doing? Do you not realize the time of day?" Rose looked at Luke, who gave her a nod, and turned back to Professor Volans.

"Professor, I have permission from Headmaster McGarthy and Professor Longbottom to be here." She looked down at the ground and started playing with her fingers.

"At this time in the morning?"

"Whatever time I need."

Regulus sighed. _Why were they given such a git of a headmaster? Minerva had been much better and actually had experience.  
_  
"That remains to be seen. In the meantime, if you're determined to be defiant of school rules, can you keep it down?" he snarled sarcastically. Rose skipped over to where she wasn't visible.

"Yes, sir," Luke replied and then he gave Regulus a quick show of his teeth; his defensive mode gave his teeth a sharp edge.

"It can't be," he murmured in a sudden trance. Luke winked menacingly and then turned back toward Rose. Regulus backed away slowly and skeptically at first, but then made a mad dash for his quarters. He gave the door a quick slam.

"Colloportus," he hissed. Regulus took off his night robe carefully and walked to his fireplace. The warmth felt refreshing against his skin. He took an old and tattered black book off the mantle, along with an ink bottle and pen, and opened the book to the first page.

_Are you there?_ he wrote. Regulus sat with patience as he watched the ink dissolve within the page. The reply faded in quickly.

_Is he okay?_

He's fine, Sirius. They all are.

Don't you touch them, Regulus. They don't deserve that, _**and you know what I'll do.**__  
_  
Regulus grumbled. Sirius thought that he was still faithful to the Dark Lord, no matter how Regulus tried to prove otherwise. He was sick of it! Every time he chatted with Sirius, the blame game was played and fingers were pointed. Regulus was the only connection from the spirit realm to the wizarding world that Sirius had, but he was done. Regulus slammed the book shut, holding it above the fire, but just couldn't toss it in. It was his brother, his only family he could talk to, the only one that knew he was still alive.

His appearance had changed quite a bit from aging, and the attack from the Inferi had left scars, emotionally and physically. He had changed his last name, nevertheless, and took on a new identity, as a traveling wizard from Romania. From the spirit realm, Sirius was able to place a book, a way to communicate with him, in 12 Grimmauld Place, hoping for Harry Potter to find it. When Regulus 'came from Romania', he barely got past all the enchantments and hexes placed by the Order of the Phoenix. But when he entered, he found the book in his room, and even though Sirius wasn't thrilled, he was at least pleased to have some kind of contact.

Sirius had always been an enormous bully to him, just because their mother had liked him better. But even through all that, Sirius was family. He took the book and carefully placed it on the shelf. He placed the Disillusionment Charm on the books. He wasn't going to risk one of his brother's usual tricks in attempt to lure Albus, Harry's son, to the book.

Regulus walked back to his bed and slid under the covers. Falling back into his dreams was his favorite part of his nighttime slumber because it made his mind at ease. It took off from where it had last left off.  
_  
Lindy once again kissed his lips and fled the room. Noticing her absence, he pushed himself up with all his might to lean against the wall as to have sight. He saw the brightness of the peach-colored walls which lead his gaze to the windows outside._

Beyond the small green apple orchards lay a pale yellow field full of a variety of botany. Coming from the trees behind the plain was a group of burly, husky men, about 20 or 30 of them, with swords and guns. Regulus gulped and sunk back down into his pillow and squeezed his eyes shut. A terrifying, piercing scream came form behind his walls as tears slid down his face. How could he be so useless and unprotecting?


	7. Chapter 7

Rose felt a sudden chill over her body and opened her eyes. It had only been two weeks since Halloween, yet November's chill was finding the perfect timing for its arrival. IT was finally Saturday, as this week had been long and hard, and Rose just wanted to take today to relax. She jumped out of her bed looking around the abandoned dorm and sighed. Anika had yet to speak to her, but Rose didn't want to take the first step, although Albus' jokes were getting old. She shifted through her trunk and found her favorite purple robe and changed into it while magically curling her hair into big, perfect ringlets. She always did it that way because Scorpius seemed to have a fondness for it, and they had a secret meeting today. Plus, that was the highlight of her Saturday. She looked over at the clock beside her bed: 11:00. She still had two hours to kill. Rose walked down to the common room to look for Albus. To her surprise, he was sitting on the couch talking to Martin and another boy in their year, Andre Lewis, a boy with long black hair and some Italian-like qualities about him. She plopped herself in between Albus and Andre.

"..and I made the whole entire room full of mirrors shatter. Boy, did it surprise Mum and Dad when I got my letter. Did relieve 'em though. Thought I was some king of loony," Andre said pointing to his head. Albus burst with laughter as the thought of Luna sprung into his head. He and Hugo had always thought she was a little off her top, but Rose loved that about her.

"Hi, Albus. Where's James?" she asked looking around.

"He's practicing, more like showing off, to his precious Anika before the Quidditch game. I hope he falls off his broom. Ever since Anika and him started dating, he's been with her 24/7," he scowled.

"Well, she's been completely ignoring me," sighed Rose.

"Have you tried talking to her?" Martin interrupted.

"Um," Rose stuttered, "yes. But the attempts are wasteful, as she doesn't care." Rose gave Martin a stare until he gave her a quick nod. She knew Luke would have told one of them about their 'incident' in the common room earlier that year. She didn't want anyone else to know, though. "Albus," she said, "let's go hang out." She grabbed his hand and pulled him off the couch with herself. Albus sighed.

"All right," he sighed jokingly. "Come on!" They ran out of the common room and down the stairs that lead to the Entrance Hall and back outside. The wind chilled both their faces and was howling loudly.

"Do you want to go see Hagrid?" suggested Albus.

"Sure," agreed Rose. They ran down to Hagrid's against the wind.

"Hagrid!" Albus yelled, "It's Albus!" The door opened wide, and Rose and Albus were blown inside as the door flew shut. A gray-haired Hagrid sat at a table across from them bundled in a huge fur jacket. He turned around to face them.

"'Bout time yeh came 'own 'ere. Been a bit lonely, meself. Well, go on! Take yer cloaks off," he grumbled. Albus threw his cloak off and took a seat in front of him by the large, lit fireplace. Rose, leaving her cloak on, placed herself beside Albus to warm up.

"Hi, Hagrid. I finally got Rose to come down here," Albus nodded at her as he accepted the mug of a funny smelling tea, or that's at least what he could make of it.

"Well, I've missed yeh. I got sometin' to show yeh two," he said with gusto and went to look under his bed. Rose and Albus looked at each other as they gulped. Hagrid's love for 'harmless and wonderful creatures' was widely known, especially in his classes.

"Umm, Hagrid," Rose stuttered, "what exactly is that something?" He lifted up a heavy brown crate with squealing miniature fuzz balls in the bottom.

"Gwinkies," he stated proudly, "ther for me thir' years. They jus' hatched, but ther already nippin' at each other." He smiled at the Gwinkies while cooing at them.

"Well, they sure are something, aren't they Rose?" Albus encouraged through clenched teeth. Rose stood there, stunned. Creatures had never interested her much. Some of them she thought were a waste, because they did nothing productive for the magical community.

"They're great," she falsely assured Hagrid. Rose and Albus talked with Hagrid for the next hour about classes and odd professors' assignments. The clock in Hagrid's den rang at a quarter until one. Rose sprung up in a rush and put the hood on her cloak over her head.

"Where yeh goin', Rose?" Hagrid asked surprised.

"I, uhh, have an appointment. Bye!" Rose closed the large door quickly and started running against the wind again. It was more blustery than before; her feet were taking a fighting stand. She finally reached shelter when it began raining cats and dogs. Rose walked inside the corridor and felt the heat flow through her body. It felt good to be away from the cold, autumn air. Rose rushed to the dungeons, trying not to run into anyone. When she entered the bottom floor, Professor Lynx came down the hall in a simple but still extravagant Gryffindor robe with a scarf and hat to match. She spotted Rose as she tried to hide herself.

"Rose!" she called, "Can I help you dear?"

"Uh, no," Rose said attempting to think up a good excuse.

"Aren't you going to come watch the game? James is quite the player," she said.

"Yeah, but I think I left my book in your room," Rose said. She wasn't very good at lying, but she hoped to pull through. Professor Lynx looked at Rose and paused for a minute, staring her down.

"All right. Go ahead," she stated while walking away. "Oh, Gryffindors are brave and the best at Quidditch and…" she started to sing. Rose rolled her eyes and headed down to the end of the hallway. She placed her hand on the wall, feeling for an invisible doorknob. Finally finding it, she pushed it into the wall to let a blinding light flash toward her and reveal three doorways with doors that somewhat replicated the vault doors at Gringrotts.

"(HOGWARTS IS SAFE)," she whispered. All of the doors opened suddenly, and everything in front of her disappeared to leave a room with stone walls. The dust-covered tables and cobwebbed chairs were still in place from the last class they had had in there. A fireplace sat in the middle of the back wall with a small, blond long-haired boy sitting in front of it. Rose sighed in delight. "Scorpius, you came." Scorpius looked up at Rose and smiled. "Sorry I'm late. I was with Albus," she said pointing to the door, "and then-." Scorpius brought his finger to her lips.

"You're insane, you know? I thought, for a second, that you might have gone to the Quidditch match."

"Quidditch isn't really my 'forte,'" she admitted.

"Good. Isn't mine either," he laughed. "Sit," he gestured to a green rug that had put down for their comfort. "So, how has your week been?"

"Dreary! Professor Volans is getting on my last nerve," she growled and picked a piece of dirt off the floor and chucked it into the fire.

"Just ignore him," he said, "For being the head of the Slytherin house, he's not too fond of us either." Scorpius paused for a moment to think. Rose looked up.

"What's wrong? Say it," she encouraged.

"It's just…are you still hanging out with that prat?"

"If by prat, you mean Luke, then yes. And if you would just give him a chance-"

"Why should I give him a chance, Rose?" she spat at her. "He already thinks I'm a Dark Art loving goon, when you know I'm not."

"I know you aren't," she rushed, "but it doesn't mean that you two couldn't try being friends." Scorpius gave her a look of disgust and rolled her eyes.

"If he wants to be friends," he'll let me know." Rose looked away hurt, and gave up. _Boys have their brains set to think they are always right, no matter what age. _"I'm sorry," he said, placing his hand on her shoulder. "How's your family?" he asked trying to change the subject.

"Fine. Mum's work at the Ministry is going good, and Dad, well, the older he gets, the more he's turning into Grandfather Weasley!" Scorpius laughed uncontrollably.

"You mean Muggle obsessed?"

"Something like that, she nodded in agreement. "I don't understand why, though. He's known my mother for 26 years, and he's been with her for 20… I guess it's just my family," she sighed.

Rose and Scorpius sat for the next two hours talking about random things, from classes to whether or not grass turns green on its own without magic. They wouldn't have noticed the outside world had it not been for the grumbling Slytherins going down the hall toward their common room. "I think Gryffindor won," Rose mumbled. They both looked at each other. Scorpius was lying on his stomach playing with Rose's hair while she lay on her back drawing pictures on the ceiling with her wand. She giggled slightly and bit her lip. Scorpius helped her off the ground and put out the fire.

"Do you want me to walk back with you?" he asked quietly.

"I think I'll fine," she said, "but thank you. They embraced themselves in a friendly hug, even though they both had more feelings than each other knew. "See you in Charms," she smiled. He smiled back, and her heart fluttered. Rose's face flushed pink, but she ran out of the room before anymore embarrassment could show on her face. She walked up the stairs to her common room airily.

"Nibbley snout," she said lightly.

"Oh, you wouldn't want that," the Fat Lady replied disgustingly as she swung open the portrait. Rose stepped in to find a crowd of rejoicing Gryffindors with James on their shoulders. Albus pushed his way through the crowd breathing heavily.

"Rose! Oh you should of seen James catch of that snitch! He knocked that Slytherin oaf-of-a-seeker right off his broom and then whoosh! Caught it right in his hand. It was really wicked." Albus was so out of breath from his excitement that Rose felt overwhelmed. She looked at James and he saw her with widened eyes.

"We won! 270-110! I caught it right in my bloody hand, and their seeker, Cambrey, just stared in awe. It's because Gryffindor is awesome, am I right?" A loud cheer erupted from everybody in the common room as James jumped to the floor and came over to Rose. "You're coming next time."

"Well, of course I am," she laughed. "I have got to see this awesomeness on the pitch."

"You were amazing, Pookey," Anika butted in. She threw her arms around James' neck and kissed him on the cheek. She turned toward Rose and put one hand on her hip. "You know, I'm surprised you didn't come to support your house, since you're _sooo_ devoted to it," she exaggerated and gave a sneaky wink. Rose's infuriation made her face as red as her hair. James looked between his furious cousin and his cocky girlfriend and coughed.

"Uh, I see you two haven't yet resolved your problems." He took a couple steps back and looked around the room. "Hey Luke!" he called and ran. Rose and Anika stared at each other down while ignoring the surrounding noise. Anika glanced up at the girls' dormitory door and then looked at Rose. She led herself and Anika up the steps. Rose opened the door to find the room empty, then shut it and say on her bed.

"Look, Rose started, "I don't know what is wrong with you, but if it's to do with…what happened with me and Luke…I'm sorry. It meant nothing." She was staring at Anika with widened, tear filled eyes and utmost sympathy. It's not that! Well, not really…" she sighed. "As I told you before, we were surprised when I received my letter from Hogwarts. I found out from my Grandmother that we haven't had a witch in the family for 80 years, and she was killed. Her family came to America after she passes and had more children, but none of them were wizards. The gene apparently sparked and started back up again with me. We moved here to London, and I was able to have a whole new start." She smiled shyly. "You see, I've never been that great at making friends because anytime I would get mad at someone, that person usually flew back into a wall or something. And the same goes with boys. I changed my whole personality and looks, and it worked.

"But then, when I saw you and Luke, I was so angry that someone had already taken an interest in you and not me. So, I decided to change even more because I thought that boys apparently didn't like what they were seeing. But now, I have quite a few admirers." She smiled. Rose noticed that Anika had changed quite a lot from when they first met. Anika wore make-up, did her hair, and actually paid attention to how color coordinated she was. You could tell she was becoming an adolescent as well because her hips were starting to show. "James and I started talking one day at lunch, and I really like him! Your family's really great, Rose. You're lucky." Rose shook her head.

"If you actually knew them, you wouldn't be saying that. Wait, so if James fancied you, why are you still mad at me?!" she asked confused.

"Because you completely ignored me! I would of thought that you would have been able to figure this much out, for as intelligent as you are," she said surprised.

"Ani, I'm sorry! I didn't realize I had hurt you that bad, but I promise it won't happen again." Anika nodded, and they hugged each other in a comforting embrace.

"You know," Anika held back, "I first started dating James to get revenge on you, in a way. But I actually really like him now."

"I can tell," Rose giggled and she could. Anika had placed scarlet and gold streaks in her hair in support of her favorite player. "Oh," Anika gasped, "how are things with you and Scorpius going?" she nudged. "Sorry about before."

"It's okay," she assured, "and things are going good. He's who I wish things would move faster with, you know." She stopped hesitantly.

"What? What is it?" Anika asked eagerly.

"It's just…What do guys look for in girls? I mean, what do you have that I don't?" Anika placed her hands and hips and started flaunting them around. "Besides that!" Rose laughed.

"I don't know," she sighed and then sat down crossed-legged on her bed folding her hands in her lap. "It just depends. Luke seems to like you; you have intelligence and personality. To be honest, you should ask them yourself." Rose sat in disbelief.

"You mean, you, who can get a million boys, can't even give advice to your best friend?"

Anika shrugged. "Why don't you ask Scorpius tomorrow?" she suggested. It was a good idea, Rose had to admit it. But was she ready for the consequences?

"Oh," Rose remembered, "What's up with James lately? He's spending an awful lot of time with you."

"I don't know. He's been rather…clingy," she said annoyed.

"Well, Albus said he misses him. Maybe you could…"

"Of course," Anika said. "I'll suggest some time for their 'boy bonding,'" she laughed. A knock came on the door, and Karolinn and Adelaide entered the room.

Karolinn and Adelaide were best friends, almost sisters, but looked nothing alike. Karolinn was short and chubbier than the other girls with dirty blond hair bob, had a lazy eye, and tan skin. Adelaide, on the other hand, had dark skin, and her black hair was always done in short corn rows. She was the same height as Karolinn, but was average size. They both wore hand-me-downs but were always caught up on the latest gossip.

"Were we interrupting something?" Adelaide asked.

"Well, not r-"

"Good," Karolinn interrupted. The girls took seats on Karolinn's bed and shut the curtain around it. Rose and Anika laughed silently and waited out of the room.

"Are you coming to bed, Ani?" Rose asked. The celebrations had finally died, since it was 1 o'clock in the morning, and she and Anika were the only girls left among the 20 boys that were still wide awake. She was exhausted after her somewhat productive day.

"I'll be up in a little bit," and she snuggled closer to a yawning James. Rose dragged herself up to her dorm to grab a fresh nightgown and headed to the shower rooms.

The shower rooms were separated girls from boys, and then by years 1-4 and 5-7. When she walked into it facing the 14 sinks with a mirror along it on both sides, the 16 showers on her left and the 16 bathroom stalls on her right were vacant. She walked to the shower at the end of the room, took off her robe, and walked in. The warm water fell instantly on her skin, and a chill flew through her body. Rose had always loved showers; it was one of the two things, being that and singing that could calm her down. She used to sing in her public school choir, and it was one of the most fascinating things she had ever done. She hadn't sung at all since she had come to Hogwarts, and she was the only one in here… Rose took in a deep breath and busted a F above middle C and then started singing a song from a show called _Sweeny Todd_. It had been very popular in the muggle world for over 30 years, and it was well loved among the children in her choir. By the time 3 songs were finished, she was just getting done with her shower. She opened up the curtain and stood in front of the mirror, grabbing herself a towel. _Why do I have to look like a little kid?_ She looked down at the flatness of her chest and ran her hands down the straightness of her body. She was 11, and yet, nothing had happened to her. Rose felt left out of all the changes around her. _Maybe this is why Scorpius doesn't fancy me. _She was determined to ask him the next day in Charms. Rose slid the nightgown over her head and brushed her hair down as it clung to her sides. Dumping her towel down the laundry chute, she exited the shower room and went to her dorm. Anika's bed was still empty, and Adelaide and Karolinn were asleep. Emily sat in her bed with her silver checkered rimmed glasses and her nose in her book, _To Kill a Mockingbird_, undisturbed by Rose's entrance.

"That's a really good book," Rose whispered as she curled up on Emily's bed.

"I've read it before, but I don't have any good books left," she sighed and pointed to a pile of about 20 books at the bottom of her bed on top of her trunk. Rose giggled quietly.

"You know, there are these things called libraries-."

Emily rolled her eyes. "I know that. But I've yet to find a book that had made an impression on me," Emily sighed. Rose had an idea.

"Since you're muggle born, why don't you research more? There are lots of things I'm sure you don't know that common witches and wizards do," Emily shrugged her shoulders.

"I guess. Well, I'm going to sleep. 'Nite." Rose slid onto her own bed in agreement and under the covers.


	8. Chapter 8

"Rose and Scorpius, stop with the chit chat and get started on reading!" piped up Professor Flitwick. Scorpius looked back down at his paper, the blond strands of hair falling in front of his face. Rose huffed and opened her book to a random page.

"Would you just tell me why you want to know?" Scorpius murmured, annoyed.

Rose sighed and rolled her eyes. "I just want to know for a friend. Boys are confusing."

Scorpius laughed under his breath. "Don't worry, so are girls. Personally, I wouldn't look for anything specific in a girl, and it shouldn't matter what we like. If a boy likes you, or your friend," he said in a sarcastic tone, "then he will make sure she knows. They like you for who you are, not what you make yourself to be."

Rose sighed a laid her head on the table. "You know, this information might help some, but it doesn't really help me." She shut her mouth after realizing what she had just said and started to work on her Charms essay, turning slightly away from Scorpius. He, on the other hand, looked up and smiled.

"I can't believe you told him you liked him." Anika laughed in between bites of her chicken pot pie. "What did he say after that?" she asked eagerly.

"Nothing," Rose muttered. "I didn't give him the chance. Right after the bell rang, I ran out."

"You are one crazy chick," Anika said.

"Of course she is. It's that red hair that gets her going, " Albus teased, pulling up her curls. Rose swatted at him and threw her face back down into her palms. "What's got her wand in a knot?"

"Oh, don't ask," Anika said. "I'm going up to the common room to finish my Charms essay. Wanna come, Rose?" Rose merely shook her head and leaned her head on Albus's shoulder. "Don't be miserable, Rose," she said, patting her friend's head. "Later." Anika headed out of the Great Hall as Albus's grabbed himself some food to eat.

"So, are you going to tell me what's wrong, or are you just going to be moping around for the rest of the week?" Albus asked curiously.

"I can't," Rose muttered, "It's too difficult to explain." She brought up her head and looked to her left. The lessons with Luke had actually been helpful, as she had sensed him coming toward her. He winked at her and quickly took Anika's spot beside Rose.

"You coming to practice tonight?" he whispered in her ear.

"Yeah, of course," she nodded with a fake, pleasant smile. Luke gave her an odd glance and got off the seat, walking back toward his group of fellow feorers. They all gave Rose a welcoming smile, but she kept where she was.

"Why can't you tell me what's wrong? We've always been able to each other everything," Albus said with a little bit of hurt in his voice.

"Albus, it's not that I can't tell you what's wrong, it's just… I'm still trying to figure it out myself," she said in exasperation.

"Okay… but you know I am and will always be here for you, Cuz, right?" he asked.

"Yeah," she said thankfully and she gave Albus a giant bear hug. "I think I'm going to go finish that essay with Anika. See you later." She grabbed her bag and headed out of the great hall and toward the Gryffindor tower. Rose started humming a random tune when she felt herself being dragged into a nearby classroom. She came to a sudden stop, after being whirled around in a circle numerous times, face to face with Scorpius. Panicked, Rose tried to come up with an excuse to leave.

"Before you say anything," Scorpius started, "I just wanted to let you know that I like you, too." He breathed out a heavy breath and Rose gulped as her stomach twisted to develop many butterflies. Could this really be happening? Did he really like her, too?

"Why didn't you say anything befo-"

"The same reason you didn't," he answered. "The fear of rejection." Rose giggled and pushed a loose strand of hair behind her ear.

"You sure are intelligent and…wise…for a first year," Rose said quietly. "So, what now?"

"I don't know," he muttered. They stared at each other for several minutes in silence until Scorpius muttered, "I guess I'll see you in Charms tomorrow." He grabbed her hand and kissed it softly, leaving her in peace. Erec Barre had nothing on this kid. He was giving Rose a true chance. It didn't matter how young and stupid they were; it meant something to them, and that was what truly mattered. She bit her lip and walked out of the room dreamily, heading back to her own common room.

"Nibbely snout," Rose sighed. The fat lady stared at her, but opened the portrait anyway. Rose spotted Anika and slid over to sit beside her on the floor. "Hi," she giggled. Anika gave her an odd look.

"Okay now, are you?" she laughed. "I figured all it would take would be some time alone with family. I told you they were great."

"It wasn't Albus's fault that I'm fine now," she smiled. Anika got the hint and gasped.

"What happened?" she asked eagerly. Rose told her what had happened in a quiet whisper. At the end, Anika giggled and gave Rose a hug. "I told you it would take some time!"

"You tell me a lot of things, don't you?" Rose laughed. Anika rolled her eyes and turned back to her essay.

"Since when does anyone care how Charms are developed? I'll finish this tomorrow," Anika muttered. "So, did he ask you out?" she whispered as she put her books back in her satchel.

"No. He just sort of said 'See you in Charms'. I don't think we really knew what to say to each other. But, I'm eager for out meeting on Saturday," she said.

"Four days… how will you ever survive?" Anika played out dramatically. Rose rolled her eyes and slapped Anika playfully. "I think I'm going to go hang out with my own darling, dear," she smiled, eyeing James. Anika got up and ran over to James, who had taken a seat on the couch, and cuddled beside him. Rose went over to them, as well, as Albus had come up with James. The two cousins sat down and played two games of wizard chess before everyone decided to turn in. Rose took a seat on the couch, saying she wanted to work on her Charms essay, but she really was sitting, waiting for Luke.

She pulled her hair up into a bun and lay impatiently on the couch for a half hour until she saw Luke coming down the steps to the nearly empty common room. "You ready?" he asked. Rose nodded, and they turned to sneak out the door. They walked along the corridors silently until they came to their empty practice room. "Alright, so since we've been studying about mental defenses, I thought that we could first start by you trying to penetrate my own powers."

"Your own powers?" Rose asked confused.

"The power that feorers have to break anyone's concentration at any time and read their mind, sort of like Occulmency. Geez, Rose, where have you been for the last 3 months?"

"Sorry, my mind has been on other things lately," Rose muttered, but it didn't get by Luke's hearing.

"I told you that you have to be prepared and aware at all times," Luke said to her.

"I'm 11. You really expect me to have skills that not even most full grown wizards have?" she spat at him.

"Yes! You don't realize the danger you're in, yet. I'll tell you when you're ready-"

"And when will I be ready!?" Her face was cherry red and she was breathing heavily. She didn't want to have to deal with this stupid training right now. Actually, she didn't even want to 'train' anymore. What 'serious danger' was she in? If it was so serious, why wouldn't Luke tell her what it was that way she could prepare? "I'm going to get a drink," she hissed at him and stomped out of the room toward the kitchens. Albus had shown her the secret passage to get in through the portrait when they first got here. She tickled the pear and walked in to be surrounded by 3 house elves.

Ever since her mother, Hermione, had had her say in the treatment of magical creatures, house elves had been limited to only work in places such as establishments, like Hogwarts, and only about 30 were allowed to work there. The house elves who still worked were the ones that could not be convinced after years of talks trying to convince them it wasn't fair to work, and Hermione finally decided that if they truly wanted to be happy this way, it must be for the best. The rest of them were able to be convinced that freedom was great and that they could be paid for their work, like one house elf that Hermione had met in her school days had strived for once years before.

"'Ello, Miss. May Daisy get Miss some pie? Or some treat that Daisy made for supper?" a tiny house elf with a pink dress that featured frills at the bottom ask her in a very high and squeaky voice. She held out a platter that had a full pan of what looked to be brambleberry pie and a couple of candies and cookies.

"No thank you, Daisy," Rose said nicely. "Can I just have a glass of water, please?" Hermione had always taught her children to be polite to house elves, and Rose didn't mind.

"Of course, Miss! Daisy be right back," she replied cheerfully, and no sooner than if you had said 'Quidditch' had she reappeared with a liter mug of water.

"Thanks, Daisy," Rose said, and she carried the mug of water, taking small sips, while she grudgingly went back to the meet Luke. When she appeared just outside the room, she heard Luke's voice talking quietly, along with another one.

"You can't keep this up for long. Someone's going to find out who you are," Luke said harshly.

"It doesn't matter if they do. I'm here only to help and protect, unlike you. The best thing for you would be to stay away from your fellow feorers," said the man's deep voice.

"Who asked you?" Luke squeaked. "They're my family, and I am protecting Rose. I am teaching her how to protect herself for who is out to get her," he lowered his voice while speaking now. "And I have a feeling now that I know who might be a part of it," he said after a moment's thought. There was silence for a minute until Rose heard footsteps come toward her. She hid quickly behind the nearby suit of armor and saw Professor Volans exit the room and walk swiftly down the corridor, a look of pity and anger upon his face.

Rose waited until Professor Volans was out of her sight before standing back in the open doorway. "What was that about?" she confronted Luke. Luke look surprised and in a struggle for words.

"You… you heard that?" he stuttered.

"Basically. Are you gonna tell me what the danger is now?" Rose said and crossed her arms. "Because, if not, I'm leaving."

"No, but you can't leave!" Luke said quickly as Rose turned toward the hallway, but she ignored him. She ran back up to dorm, after annoying the Fat Lady to let her in, and threw herself on her bed.

"Stupid training. Stupid Luke. Why can't he just…tell me," she muttered to herself, annoyed. Anika started turning in her bed and brought herself looking sleepily at Rose.

"Whatcha still doin' up?" she asked, half asleep and confused.

"Just getting ready to go to bed," Rose said, and she threw the blankets over her, fully clothed, and fell asleep. She hadn't told Anika, or anyone for that fact, about the previous lessons or what Luke had told her about being 'in danger'. She slept somewhat soundly that night, dreaming pleasantly about herself and Scorpius, at first, taking a walk along the lake together. They started talking about the grindylows beneath the lake, and then her dream blurred and she found herself in a dungeon. It was not a dungeon like one located in the school, or at least that she had seen. It was completely dark and musty, except for one single torch that was lit, and it was located near the top of the stone ceiling. Rose was trapped and she heard many voices' cackles echo around her. Then coming forward from within the dark corners was a group of feorers, the only feorers Rose knew. They were in their defensive formation, which brought them to have very sharp teeth, pure red eyes, and constant vigilance. They looks upon their faces were not welcoming, but menacing.

"What do you say we do, Marty?" Jasmine asked in a high pitched voice, very unlike her own.

"We could torture her, like Lee's father," Kim replied.

"No, she's too strong," Martin replied, eyeing her down. "Luke," he said sharply turning his head toward him. But Luke just stood in place, looking at the ground.

"Oh, he's too scared, Marty. He needs to realize that it's for everyone's own good if we eliminate her," Jasmine said. She walked over to Luke and placed her sharp fingers upon his shoulders, her long black hair giving her an evil looking shadow upon her face. "You know this is for the best. It needs to happen." Lee turned toward Luke and muttered something in his ear. Luke shook him away and walked back into the corner.

Rose had been sitting, curled into a ball, watching this conversation. She looked at Luke as he walked away and tears started to fall from her face. "Luke! Luke, please, help me! I understand now, just help me, please!" she pleaded. Luke looked at her, suddenly, wanting in his eyes, but he just turned away again, his grown hair falling over his eyes as Rose's visions spun. She was gasping for breath as she awoke upon her bed, drenched in sweat. Swallowing hard in fear, she attempted to lie back down and sleep again, afraid that those dreams might come back to haunt her again.


End file.
